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Short-term effectiveness doubted

Whatever is done now to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will have little effect in the near term, according to Rod Nelson of Schlumberger Ltd. Nelson made his comments during an energy forum sponsored by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists partnering with corporations and industry related organizations.Carbon dioxide — which is vital to life — naturally accumulates in large quantities in the atmosphere and ebbs and flows in a 200 year cycle, said Nelson, a panelist at the forum entitled, “America’s Energy Heartland, America’s Energy Future.”While it is not melting the Arctic ice cap, it is a long-term, global, cumulative issue and not a local issue, Nelson said as the forum panel discussed a wide range of energy topics.He attributed the melting to particulates from other countries falling on the ice cap absorbing heat.Some people think a peak in oil production could have a catastrophic effect on the world market, but James L. Smith of Southern Methodist University said it is not something to be concerned about.“Oil has already peaked several times,” he said.“Proved oil reserves are growing he said, “we are not peaking due to physical scarcity anytime soon.”The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has spare capacity, Smith said.Concern should be focused on what happens afterward when prices go up and demand goes down.Philip H. Stark of IHS of Englewood, Colo., said gas is the key to the nation’s energy future.There is a lot of clean energy policy efforts biased toward renewable fuels and not very favorable to gas. The challenge is to balance the desire for clean energy to the drive the economy against affordable solutions to reduce pollution.For almost a decade domestic gas production was on a plateau. There were 13,000 gas wells drilled in 2000 and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the industry worked hard to recover and in 2007 drilled 30,000 to sustain the earlier production.Average well production has decreased about 50 percent between 1996 and 2006. “We have to run faster every year just to stay in place,” Stark said.A record amount of gas is in storage this fall, and there is a “huge amount available to supply the market,” he said. “The gas industry unfortunately, has not been on the policy bandwagon in Washington, D.C.’’